Sorting out the Squape R and Rs

[nevillebartos]

So. I've got both of these and for an age could get them dialed in really nicely build after build just about with my eyes closed. Then and endless torrent of problems started and eventually wore me out, so I chucked them in a tub and got a kanger. Biggest killer for me was the leaking, I didn't have that problem, then I did and I couldn't get either to not leak. The internals of my treasured vapor flask have been ruined because of it, my own fault for thinking the squape was all good and leaving it on there I guess, it would mostly leak through the pin though so I'd never notice until it was way too late.

Today I got started on rebirthing my VF, pulled the guts and gave it a massive clean. While I was at it I tore down both squapes, cleaned those up like new and gave them new o rings. Should be fine right? I'm suspicious they won't be. Looking for any and all tips from you guys to get these things going properly again, particularly regarding the pin.

 

[DaveP]

I only have the original Squape, the huge one. I fixed the leaking by teasing wicking down into the channels about halfway. Mine leaked terribly until I did that. Just extend enough fibers down past the deck to fill the vertical channels halfway down, leaving the rest empty. Don't pack it overtight. Just fill the gap and smooth it down to allow the chimney to screw on without twisting the wicking. Juicing the wick when you do that helps to make it stick to the channel. It slows the wicking down enough to stop wick oversaturation. If you decide to use it for a higher wattage build you might want to revert back to open channels or adjust the channel fill for more juice feed.

 

[nevillebartos]

Thanks mate, I run the B deck on both and have a good method to setting it up that I detailed somewhere in the squape R thread itself. I've fired up the Rs and so far so good - but I am finding I still need to wind the pin out slightly further than I would prefer - its still in there pretty snug but a couple more turns and it would be freely loose.

When I do this is when juice is able to work its way out down through the pin, I guess because there's not much thread to block its path, and that o ring doesn't sit in the snuggest spot. To take a stab at the root cause could be the deck overfilling or juice dripping down from the wick in the coil - fair enough it would then exit the air hole, but this is more desirable as its easily noticed and generally won't end up inside the mod. Straight down through the pin and I wouldn't even notice on my flask until it was flowing out the USB port and through the battery holes - when I pulled the internals they were an absolute disgrace. It also led to jamming of the mods pin preventing it from fulling springing up, compounding the problem.

Right now I've got it sitting on a VS rdna 40, this is a mod I've barely used, it's pin has plenty of spring in it and more than enough travel for solid pin to pin connection for any fixed pin atty I throw on there, yet with the squape the pin needs to be wound out to borderline undone. Other two mods the flask and xvostick, neither present any contact problems with pins of any other atty.

So I reckon a longer pin would sort this out. I've heard whispers of the pin being updated, and they do sell pins individually on the site. I'm almost willing to try it, but I'm yet to find any info whether they actually changed anything or not, and if they did if it was only to address the general looseness with an ever so slight increase in pin diameter, I'm also not entirely sure if the looseness issue was just due to people having to wind them out so far to make contact that it would sit loose, such is my issue.

What I'm probably going to have to do is find something else with a matching thread (which I'm sure will be near impossible), then easy enough to cut it to size, work a groove for an O ring and a notch for a driver. It's pretty absurd this is even an issue, when one of the simplest yet most important aspects of the atty allows it to fail like this, especially considering how straightforward the fix would be for the manufacturer.

Love everything else about these attys and am determined to get this solved. I'll update here with what I work out for anyone who's sticking to theirs. Any spring wear or stickiness in a favourite mod could be an insurmountable problem for the squape as far as I can see.

 

[DaveP]

Find a small o-ring or nylon washer that works and slide it onto the center pin, then reinstall the pin. Some mods don't have enough center contact travel to mate up with the center pin on certain atties. It's just an unfortunate fact of Chinese design, I guess.

 

[nevillebartos]

Find a small o-ring or nylon washer that works and slide it onto the center pin, then reinstall the pin. Some mods don't have enough center contact travel to mate up with the center pin on certain atties. It's just an unfortunate fact of Chinese design, I guess.

You'd think that would be the entire purpose of the adjustable pin on the squape. But, if it can't even wind out as far as any given fixed pin atty then I think it's fair to say that either the pin is just too short.

Lying around I've got a kanger toptank, aspire nautilus and mini and a starre pro. The chinese fixed position pins on these have no issue making proper contact on any of these 3 mods or my now defunct istick. This is why I put blame on the travel of the squape pin, and not the spring loaded atty pins. It's created a problem rather than being able to solve the problem it's there to correct.

I do get a slight amount of play in the squape pin which I reckon gives 2 more contributing factors. 1 - vibration through the atty caused by things like having it in the car allows juice to rattle down. 2 - probably allows the pin to rattle itself looser over time. Loctite would be the go to here but obviously in this situation this wont work, a bit of copper wire in the threads is known to do the job but that can get a little messy plus increase wear.

So yeah I reckon nylon washer might be the ticket to a quick fix, would create some friction to discourage the rattling, and could be an effective last line of defense for juice that does make its way through. Won't solve the squape pin travel issue though.

So, off to the hardware store to see what I can find. Will give the beefed up washer a crack and see if I can't find something to create my own pin with.

 

[nevillebartos]

The pin is a common M3-0.50 x 15mm, so I grabbed an M3 x 25mm SS bolt off the shelf and cut it by eyeball with a hacksaw to a slightly longer length than the squape issued pin, then made an excuse for a notch with a thin cut dremel wheel in one end for a flatty. Slipped the original o ring on leaving the threads to hold it in place, it is now sitting snug where it should be.

The 'pin' sits firmly without play and my resistance dropped 12% matching up to my calculations for the coil, a slightly superior connection. No instant leaking so that's a start, time will tell so we'll see how she goes. If all works out I'll grab a tiny die and knock up something shiny.

 

[DaveP]

There's a Delrin washer under the center pin anyway. You might be able to find a thicker washer, but there are tiny o-rings or other washers that can beef up the contact by spacing it out slightly.

 

[nevillebartos]

Sweet, awesome diagram, I had not noticed that bushing - by squinting through it appeared to me as a straight shot right up through the base where the air holes meet, and then continued on through the decks vent when its snapped in.

If I'm looking at this the right way, and that bushing is the initial point of contact when we start threading the pin up, it might explain why just at those first few turns the pin is not free yet still pretty wobbly and not making any decent contact with the conductive section? Would that bushing be prone to greater wear, such as the case with bushings in general? Is it's purpose to keep the pin firm, to create something of a seal, both? I'm not too familiar with delryn, have a tip somewhere supposedly made out of it so if I can find it will try making some chips in it and see what it's like.


Been keeping an eye on the current setup and still appears to be working fine still, but need much more time. One problem I'm going to have is by relying on the bolt threads to keep the o ring in place any turning that takes place is going to be eating away at it, need to kill an mm of thread and have it locked in, can't think of a tool on hand for the job right now. I know a lot of people were having issues with the pin so will try to keep it straightforward enough to be a fix worth having a crack at.

 

[DaveP]

If I'm looking at this the right way, and that bushing is the initial point of contact when we start threading the pin up, it might explain why just at those first few turns the pin is not free yet still pretty wobbly and not making any decent contact with the conductive section?

It's an insulator for the center positive contact. Without it you'd get a shorted atomizer message on a variable mod and a battery heat up on a mech mod.

Delrin is the generic name for Dupont Teflon. It's strong, heat resistant, and tough enough to take the pressure of a bolt or screw.

You can get away with adding a properly sized o-ring on the contact screw that will still allow you to tighten it and retain some exposure past the outer threaded ring for making contact with your mod's center contact.

I wouldn't put too much deep though into it. The pin is just the positive conductor that transfers voltage from the mod to the positive block on the top of the deck. Once it does that, it's job is over. The small o-ring will provide the right amount of extrusion to make it all right.

I have had a tank that worked with all mods except my old, scratched up iStick 20W. I just don't use that tank with that mod. It works fine with all the others, so that's what I use it on.

 

[nevillebartos]

Fantastic info, getting a really good idea of how it's all set and getting a good angle worked out on it all. As for not putting too much thought in though, well, previously I didn't put in enough and just tried to roll with what was provided, basically left me with at least one very expensive mod ruined, and contributed enough to ruining another - just no warnings when the juice gets out that way and constantly checking for it is not what I'd consider a solution.

Started this thread determined to squash this once and for all, and has not taken much at all to get most of the way there. Seems like all that's left to do is dress it up and possibly leverage the design of the base to bulletproof it. Many thanks for taking the time to assist with this little project, greatly appreciated. Still aiming to present something surpassing the squapes overall quality using basic hand tools.

I will also look at dealing with juice escaping the air hole, it's something that must be inevitable at least on the odd occasion, no matter how well the coil is set up the knocks and bumps of life can cause problems with it. Got a couple simple ideas to keep the mod protected.

 

[DaveP]

You can buy a new deck. There are several decks available at various vendors if you search. The type B deck is popular. I don't know which one came on mine.

 

[nevillebartos]

Yeah I've got a W and 2 x B decks, find the B to wick a lot better and can get it setup quite nicely so have just stuck with that one pretty much since it came out.